Around 1,984 years ago, a young man was tortured and executed outside Jerusalem on a Friday afternoon in April. He was known as Jesus of Nazareth, the son of a humble Jewish carpenter. Jesus had been found guilty of treason by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea. Pilate claimed that Jesus had declared himself to be king of the Jews.Late on that fateful Friday, Jesus’s body was hastily buried in a rock-cut tomb, without ceremonial washing and anointing, in keeping with Jewish tradition. So on the third day after he died, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb to properly prepare the body. The tomb was open, she discovered, and the body was gone. Jesus had risen from the dead!Easter Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ who Christians believe was the son of God. It’s the holiest day of the year for Christians. It doesn’t just commemorate something God did in the past, says the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, it celebrates something God is doing today. Easter “represents the fulfillment of God’s promises to mankind … the triumph of good over evil, sin and death.” It’s in the Bible, Catholic bishops explain, that God teaches the truths we need for the sake of our eternal salvation. It’s up to believers to ask, “What is God saying to me?” and “How do I put it into action?”The New Testament’s Book of Matthew enjoins the faithful to care for one another, to see everyone as Christ. Succor those who are hungry or thirsty. Welcome strangers; comfort the ill and those in distress. As you treat the least of my brothers, you treat me, Jesus said. We’re all one in Christ.The Bible affirms unambiguously the obligation to treat everyone with dignity and compassion. Within the Book of Galatians is an often cited passage dealing with the “oneness” of humankind. “There is neither Greek nor slave, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” John 13:35 gets to the heart of this fundamental biblical principle. Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so must you love one another.” Last Sunday, Pope Francis blessed palm branches in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City before celebrating Mass. He reflected that Jesus is present in people who endure sufferings. They suffer from slave labor, family tragedies, diseases, war, terrorism. “Women and men … are cheated, violated in their dignity, discarded,” the pontiff said. Today he’ll wash the feet of prison inmates. Last year, he performed the profoundly symbolic Holy Thursday foot-washing ceremony on refugees. It was he who in 2014 changed the rules, which limited the washing of the feet to men and boys. Pope Francis intended the ceremony to more fully express Christ’s “limitless charity” for all. “Recognize,” he said, “that Jesus is in your midst and that your care for one another is care for Jesus himself.”In his Palm Sunday message, the pontiff encouraged the faithful to reflect on Jesus’ suffering during Holy Week, look for him in the faces of those who suffer and pray for the grace to “follow Jesus faithfully.”